Federal charges for election-related crimes include a Utah case

Key Points:

• The U.S. Department of Justice charged 63 people in 15 states with illegal voting ahead of the 2024 midterm elections, including a Samoan national accused of casting a ballot in Utah, marking the largest surge of voter-fraud arrests since President Trump returned to office.
• The DOJ has charged 195 individuals across 25 states over the past nine weeks for voting or registering illegally, with some voting in multiple elections; confusion and language barriers may have contributed to some cases.
• Noncitizens are prohibited from voting in federal and state elections, and the Samoan national faces a class A misdemeanor charge with potential penalties of up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
• Despite ongoing investigations and lawsuits, courts have largely dismissed attempts by the Trump administration to obtain full voter rolls from states, and audits in Utah show a very high rate of verifiable U.S. citizen voters and no significant election fraud.
• The DOJ also indicted a Utah postal worker for allegedly discarding mail ballots, highlighting concerns about election security, although multiple audits and studies have confirmed Utah’s elections are highly secure with no significant fraud observed.